The Good Earth (Oprah's Book Club) [Paperback]

 

 

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Published in 1931, this story is set in rural, pre-revolution China. Author Pearl S. Buck was born in the United States but moved with her family to China while she was still an infant. She lived most of her first forty years in China.

This book tells the story of a poor farmer named Wang Lung. He wants to marry, yet doesn't have to money for a match maker. His father goes to the local wealthy family, the House of Hwang, and asks for a slave to be the wife for his son.

From his wedding day forward, the fortunes of Wang and his new wife O-Lan change, mostly for the better. Not only does O-Lan run the house most efficiently, she also helps with the old father and with the farming. Two sets of hands in the fields lead to increased crop yields and money.

As I was listening to this audio book, I wondered if Mrs. Buck had accurately presented the lives of farmers in China at that time. Several reviews that I checked confirm my impressions.

Spoiler Alert

The other thing that struck me about this book was how the author was able to portray the desperation of the people during the various hardships. The stoic acceptance by O-Lan of the death of her second daughter, born during the drought. I couldn't imagine what Wang went through when he took his newborn daughter from O-Lan, knowing that he would have to let her die so the rest of them could survive, but I could feel his anguish.

Alert Over

I loved this book. It didn't matter that it was published almost 80 years ago. It still came across as fresh material and still relevant. There are still many areas of this world where people farm and try to eke out a living.

Blackstone Audio produced this audio book in 2007. It was read by Anthony Heald. Mr. Heald has a very enjoyable reading voice and it added to my enjoyment.

THE GOOD EARTH, Pearl Buck, Washington Sq. Press, 1931, pp357

This novel should be read before SONS which is a continuation of The Good Earth. Pearl lived in China a great deal of her life and what she writes in her novels reveals much about Chinese life in the early 1900's. This novel is about Wang Lung, a very poor farmer who ekes out a living from his meagre land which barely sustains him and his father. He is about to be married.
His life is arduous and totally dependent on what he produces from the land. He represents the utterly poor of China and through Pearl's first-hand knowledge, we get glimpses of how gruesome life must have been. The story centres around Wang and his children as they grow up and the father's hopes for each. He recognizes and values that it is the land which sustains them, and he continues to buy any available. Unfortunately, as he gains in wealth, he and the children lose sight of the source of this wealth and the further removed from the land they become, the more serious the consequences: 'Land is one's flesh and blood.' (p. 52)
Even if one loves the land however, one is subject to the whims of nature and man's interference. So we experience such hardships as backbreaking work and hours, storms, floods, drought, grasshoppers and wars. The good years and harvests are rewarding but the hardships mean life and death. Pearl doesn't invent these hardships ' millions of Chinese starved to death and millions more died due to robbers, lords of war and rebellions. She alludes to most of these.
Wang's first love is the land but as they age, the children distract him away. We get glimpses of the rich man's life, his servants, his way of life and his abundant choice foods. In opposition, we are constantly reminded that the majority in China are destitute just barely surviving while these greedy selfish men refuse to share. His children, his eventual yielding to the flesh and his pride lead to his downfall. He is never to find the peace he so desires in old age until: 'But still one thing remained to him and it was his love for his land. He had gone away from it....But his roots were in his land and although he forgot it many months....still he must needs go and he went.' (p. 353)
The Good Earth is a real life human tragedy and it is not a book one puts down easily as it unfolds. His devotion to his children, his kindness to his wife whom he did not love and replaced with another, his disappointments with their lives and especially that not one will carry on his legacy with the land, his daughter the Fool, all these events could occur in any household and the outcomes could be the same depending if we chose the path Wang did.
The detail Pearl provides about the impoverished and the wealthy Chinese could only be grasped by one with such intimate first- hand knowledge. Typically, she also includes a handicapped child based again on her own daughter's life.
This is a classic and in many secondary schools, it is required reading. The insights into the Chinese way of life are abundant and the human experiences are lessons for anyone in any place and time.

I read this book years ago and it has stayed with me ever since.
Originally published in 1931, it won the Pulitzer prize the following year.

The setting is in China, right before the revolution. Wang Lung is a poor farmer in a village and the book starts with his wedding to plain O-lan. They have four children together, three boys and one girl. He is a very hard working farmer and bit by bit, thanks also to O-lan's skills, he builds a fortune by buying land from the House of Hwangs's family, landowners in a nearest village whose wealth declines dramatically due to their relentless spending.

We are dipped into Chinese culture, taken from the seemingly bottomless poverty of the early days throughout the rise to wealth, only to be propelled downwards again due to a terrible draught and subsequent famine, when everything seems lost and the family has to move to the city, starting all over again.

We are reading spectators of the rise and fall and twists & turns of Wang Lung's family. Many touching episodes have moved me throughout the book, especially the ones connected with hard-working, silent, subservient O-lan and later on, the ones related to their mentally retarded baby girl.

The story is absorbing and mesmerizing, exquisitely written. Page after page, truly unforgettable. A must-read classic.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Simply Wonderful! Here's Why...
This 1932 Pulitzer Prize winning novel is still a standout today. Deceptive in its simplicity, it is a story built around a flawed human being and a teetering socio-economic... Read more

Published on May 26 2005 by Hooper

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic read
Pearl S. Buck is one of my favorite authors. And since I absolutely love well written books, I virtually devoured THE GOOD EARTH. Read more

Published on April 4 2005 by John Egbe

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic read
Pearl S. Buck is one of my favorite authors. And since I absolutely love well written books, I virtually devoured THE GOOD EARTH. Read more

Published on Mar 12 2005 by John Egbe

4.0 out of 5 stars The Good Earth
Simply put, simply splendid! This a good, easy read and very enjoyable! Highly recommended! Don't let the age of the book scare you - it's great!

Published on Dec 8 2004 by T. Wentzell

5.0 out of 5 stars Read, learn, and be moved
Really a brilliant little book. Admittedly, I was doubtful at first that this "old" book would be keep my interest. Read more

Published on Dec 2 2004 by Book Smart

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally!
Oprah lost me a while back with her pick of ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE. She redeemed herself with THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER and now this one. Read more

Published on Oct 18 2004 by Jennifer Palacio

5.0 out of 5 stars Still here
I read this wonderful book in high school and loved it then. I just re-read it, and it holds up well after all these years. Read more

Published on Sep 27 2004 by brendacouppler95

5.0 out of 5 stars DECEPTIVELY SIMPLE
Pearl S. Buck's masterpiece, THE GOOD EARTH, should not be missed. In fact, it deserves to be read again, if it has been awhile for you as it has been for me. Read more

Published on Sep 24 2004 by avid reader

4.0 out of 5 stars Okay for required reading
The Good Earth was a summer reading book for me. The story revolves around a Chinese farmer who goes from being a poor farmer to a rich gentleman. Read more

Published on Jun 22 2004 by raquel

5.0 out of 5 stars I had forgotten . . .
what a book really is, what it really does until I read THE GOOD EARTH. Surely somewhere back in high school I'd combed over it along with the other books on the list, but this... Read more

Published on May 2 2004 by Marilynn Griffith

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